Husband and wife team revive Mamet play for a Welsh tour

One of David Mamet’s dark comedies is being revived for a Welsh tour.

One of David Mamet’s dark comedies is being revived for a Welsh tour. Karen Price meets the husband and wife who are behind the production

IT may be about the singles scene in Chicago during the ’70s but David Mamet’s dark comedy is being revived for Welsh audiences.

And the husband and wife team who are staging Sexual Perversity In Chicago say it is as relevant today as it was four decades ago.

“A lot of it is still applicable today in terms of how little men and women really know about each other,” says actor and co-director Robert Bowman.

“We may chat more now, but there’s still an unease when it comes to the mating ritual.

“It was interesting when we were rehearsing a scene in which the character Danny says to a girl ‘I love you’ but she doesn’t say it back. All of the girls in the room said that their boyfriends had said ‘I love you’ first. I thought it was great as it showed things don’t change much.”

Robert and his wife Elen Bowman, who are based in Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, run Living Pictures. For more than a decade, the company has been training emerging directing talent and they use a wealth of different techniques.

They have also staged a number of dramas and Mamet’s play is the latest to come from their stable. It will open at Sherman Cymru in Cardiff next week before touring Wales.

While Robert, who is originally from Washington, plays Bernie, he’s also co-directing. His wife is consultant director on the project.

And in the rehearsal room they have been using the Meisner technique, developed by the late American theatre practitioner Sanford Meisner.

Elen says: “With this Mamet piece, the Meisner technique is very compatible. For me, it’s fundamentally about the connection (between the actors) and for them to be totally in the present. It’s about the quality of the way they listen and respond. You can feel the different quality of energy between the actors as a result of this technique. That’s its forte. We’re using it in its purest form.”

Sexual Perversity In Chicago – which was staged on Broadway in 2003 and starred Minnie Driver and Matthew Perry – is a play about single men and women, the bar banter, hidden feelings and the male/female divide when looking for a mate.

Set against the sexual politics of ’70s America, Mamet’s play, suitable for ages 16 and above, follows two men and two women. Danny and Bernie are two male office workers who hang out in the bars in the swinging singles scene of Chicago.

In 30 short scenes, writer Mamet traces the rise and fall of a relationship between Danny and Deborah – from lovers to roommates.

“Mamet captures the sexual politics of the 1970s brilliantly with his play and the themes this play explores are still relevant today,” says Robert.

“For its time, it was a ground-breaking examination of the male/female mating ritual – no less so for its colourful language and the keen eye on the tortured and sometimes hilarious vagaries that takes place when a man loves a woman.”

He says the company has been careful to replicate the era in finest detail.

“Come step into the world of ’70s Chicago, the music, the clothes, the accents and the moustaches,” he laughs.

While the couple were due to co-direct together, Elen is also working on Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s forthcoming production, Dyled Eileen (Eileen Debt), therefore one of the company’s emerging directors, Nora Wardell, has been working alongside Robert while Elen is acting as a consultant in the rehearsal room.

Robert is also enjoying playing the role of Bernie. “He’s a classic messed up man – he definitely has a troubled past. When he talks about women, you wonder if he has done any of the things he says he has.

“He’s a bit of a loser but is trying to present a front that he’s sorted. He’s an interesting character to play. He has a young pal Danny who he’s trying to mentor but you get the feeling that Danny’s not going along with him.”

As far as working and living together is concerned, it seems that Robert and Elen – who are parents to five-year-old Dylan – have struck the perfect balance.

“When you’re a couple, sometimes the politeness goes out of the window and you tell each other exactly what you think,” admits Robert.

Elen adds: “We do get along really well as we’ve been friends from the beginning and we’ve been running the company for a while. Sometimes a work issue can become domestic but there’s a total sense of trust between us and we give each other honest feedback. It’s always been that way.”

Sexual Perversity In Chicago is at Sherman Cymru, Cardiff, from February 6-9; Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, on February 20; Aberystwyth Arts Centre on February 22; Pontardawe Arts Centre on February 27; Galeri, Caernarfon on March 4 & 5; and, Y Ffwrnes, Llanelli, on March 7

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